A highly anticipated Upper East Side preschool is finally slated to open — after a Post investigation revealed the city-run site had been sitting empty, angering parents.
The former parking garage at 403 E. 65th Street — which was initially scheduled to welcome pre-K and 3-K students in fall 2024 — will open to more than 130 pupils in September, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday.
“For too long, parents across the city have faced a shortage of 3K and Pre-K seats in their neighborhood,” Mamdani said at a news conference.
The school will open in a former Upper East Side parking garage. Matthew McDermott for NY Post“The lack of early childhood education centers left families with two bad choices: either claim a seat in a neighborhood far away, or pay out-of-pocket for childcare.”
Mamdani even quoted The Post’s exclusive reporting on the phantom school building — and local parents’ resulting frustration over the long-delayed opening.
“While parents were forced to look elsewhere for childcare, they would walk past a solution to the very challenges that they faced, wondering why its doors remained closed,” he said. “As one mother said at the time, ‘It’s like a slap in the face every time we walk by.’”
The massive early childhood education center — which is leased by the city from a private landlord — had been set to welcome tots in fall 2024, under then-Mayor Eric Adams, in order to meet the growing demand for more classroom seats in the posh neighborhood. But the city Department of Education appeared to have quietly shelved the plans, telling The Post just last month that “no final decisions have been made on how this building location will be utilized.”
The building has been sitting empty for years. Matthew McDermott for NY PostA DOE spokesperson said Thursday that the 30,000-square-foot site was readied “over the last few weeks,” noting the quick turn-around didn’t require a procurement process, as the center will be run by the district.
“Every parent on the Upper East Side wants to have their kid get into a program,” Upper East Side mom Danielle Avissar said.
“It’s a need in the neighborhood,” Miral Sattar, a podcaster and mom of three who lives on the Upper East Side, said about the city’s universal pre-K and 3-K program.
“I know people have turned down spots because they’ve gotten spots in Chinatown, and it’s impossible to take a child from the Upper East Side to downtown,” she told The Post.
Sattar said she once had to reject an early education seat offered to her daughter because it was 45 minutes away, and instead opted for a private option closer to home.
“It’s too expensive for us, so it’s probably too expensive for everyone else,” she said, calling the new center an “amazing” addition.
The center will serve as the first standalone site of its kind in the zip code, and is expected to double pre-K capacity (with 72 seats) and quadruple 3-K capacity (with 60 seats).
“I think we’re known as one of the most expensive communities in the city, and we want to have economic diversity,” Manhattan Community Board 8 chairperson Valerie Mason said.
The school will double capacity on the Upper East Side. Matthew McDermott for NY Post“We want to make sure that people who come here as singles feel that they can stay here and raise a family on the Upper East Side – and affordable education is the key to that.”
City Council speaker and longtime Upper East Side rep Julie Menin said the opening of the center has been a “long time coming,” noting a staggering 853 early childcare centers closing in recent years while demand has skyrocketed.
In the meantime, roughly 110,000 children under 5 have fled Gotham with their families to suburbs and to other parts of the country.
“I can’t tell you the number of parents that have said to us, ‘if we do not get affordable childcare, we’re going to leave the city,’” Menin said.
“At the end of the day, this is what we need to do citywide – to open up more childcare facilities, to make sure that every single parent that needs a slot for 3-K and pre-K has it.”
In a statement, the new mayoral administration slammed Adams for the stalling, pointing out that the “site was completed in July 2025 and remained unused under the prior administration despite community need.”
“This is part of this mayor’s commitment to fixing 3-K for families,” a Mamdani spokesperson said. “This is us delivering on a promise.”
Mamdani noted the city will continue expanding 3-K capacity for this upcoming year by partnering with community-based and home-based child care providers.
The city is also expected to open 2,000 2-K seats this fall, marking the first time the program will be offered in the Big Apple.
